well every year the BTCC put out its calendar may months before all the others. So any clashes certainly are not BTCC's fault.

Sorry I don't agree. The bigger the series, the more priority it gets. WEC has to work its way between Formula E, Blancpain, ELMS and F1. It shouldn't have to fiddle with its calendar because a national touring car series posts its dates super early.

BTCC is a national series. It should fit between the big events that only come once a year. It appears they have done just that with the Donington date.

Could the current cars really not run for an hour on one tank of fuel?

Well... I'm no engineer or technical expert, but they're designed and built very specifically for the BTCC, right? Which has had three 20-25 minute races per meeting for the last one hundred years. So why bother giving them the fuel capacity to run for longer than they'll likely ever need to?

Sorry I don't agree. The bigger the series, the more priority it gets. WEC has to work its way between Formula E, Blancpain, ELMS and F1. It shouldn't have to fiddle with its calendar because a national touring car series posts its dates super early.

BTCC is a national series. It should fit between the big events that only come once a year. It appears they have done just that with the Donington date.

don't agree at all. BTCC has by far biggest audience in UK of any of those series apart from F1 of course. So it would be ridiculous for it to play second fiddle to much much less popular races.

don't agree at all. BTCC has by far biggest audience in UK of any of those series apart from F1 of course. So it would be ridiculous for it to play second fiddle to much much less popular races.

The highest figure I can find for BTCC is 44,000 (Brands Hatch 2015). Most seem to come in at a very respectable 30,000 for a weekend. 2016 WEC at Silverstone was 52,000.

TV is probably a different story, but given that more people attend WEC ELMS weekend (it is a double header), and WEC has to fit round major series world wide, it is significantly easier for BTCC to move their date - which is exactly what they have done. This will benefit both series, since Donington and Silverstone weren't a million miles apart and just stealing fans from each other that weekend.

I was talking TV audience. It's silly to think BTCC should take second place to series that have a very very small following in this country. do you think NASCAR or Australian v8 series would alter their calendar because there is a blancpain race that hardly anyone watches on TV (by comparison) on the same weekend in Italy for example? of course not.

I was talking TV audience. It's silly to think BTCC should take second place to series that have a very very small following in this country. do you think NASCAR or Australian v8 series would alter their calendar because there is a blancpain race that hardly anyone watches on TV (by comparison) on the same weekend in Italy for example? of course not.

I think you're misunderstanding my point (and why BTCC has moved the date). NASCAR and Blancpain (or Australian V8s) aren't happening in the same country, nevermind on close proximity. So nobody needs to move a date because they aren't really tripping over each other.

However BTCC was hosting a race weekend on the same weekend as WEC and ELMS, and only 60 miles away. It wasn't the TV clash that was the problem, it is splitting the gate attendance and marshal resources between the sites. And then to add insult to injury, 70 miles the other direction from BTCC was British GT at Oulton Park. So again, the gate attendances take a hit, and marshals get diluted further. They had a marshal making this point on the Midweek Motorsport podcast that this wasn't really sustainable.

You're right about TV, but TV wasn't the problem. The finite number of fans, marshals and resources in a very condensed area wasn't good for any of the series. WEC has problems moving because a lot of drivers do double duty with Formula E and Blancpain, whilst for BTCC it was a relatively simple move - and that's exactly what they've done. Potentially you'll raise attendances and improve marshalling on both weekends because of that move, so it's great to see BTCC look at the wider motorsport picture and move a weekend or two over.

I thought OK, 60th anniversary, maybe a 1 hour race. The trouble being that the current crop of BTCC cars (unlike a lot of their Group A predecessors from many years ago) aren't set up for re-fuelling.

That makes it sound like they get filled up at the start of the season! Amazing fuel economy if so

But do you think that 1hr race would really work? I'd rather see new circuits on the calendar...

I can't see why it wouldn't - although you do have to wonder how many cars would be left by the end, there are plenty of casualties in the short races!

Which circuits would you like to see added to the calendar? I'm not sure if there are any that could host the BTCC - Castle Combe, Pembrey, Anglesey, Mondello Park are the obvious candidates but they all have issues that probably mean they're not viable.

I can't see why it wouldn't - although you do have to wonder how many cars would be left by the end, there are plenty of casualties in the short races!

Which circuits would you like to see added to the calendar? I'm not sure if there are any that could host the BTCC - Castle Combe, Pembrey, Anglesey, Mondello Park are the obvious candidates but they all have issues that probably mean they're not viable.

What do people think of the Donington full loop? Is that worth using it? I take it Cadwell isn't anywhere near the standard required either?

A non-championship race (like the one that was planned for 20015-something?), with more than 32 cars allowed. A modern version of Tourist Trophy. But I fear that not many non-BTCC competitors would show up, as the cars seem difficult to unlock for a one-off appearance and the level of competition in BTCC is very high.

Otherwise a nice full grid of historic touring cars and drivers from the different eras at one (or a few) selected venue(s) would be nice. With good TV coverage, of course, and maybe racing for some kind of charity.

The Melbourne Loop adds distance but not much else - it's widely disliked amongst drivers, although the BTCC crowd might disagree (and there are always exceptions).

Cadwell, as gorgeous a circuit as it is, is a little bit too narrow for the BTCC. It'd be a proper damage-fest.

I don't see any radical changes in terms of circuits in the near future, tbh, although I'd like to see one overseas round. Costs will prohibit that though.

Where would you like overseas? Obviously like you say it probably wouldn't happen, but the nearest is maybe Spa, but the cars would maybe be a little slow around there. North of France has depressingly little circuits. France needs to get some more stuff!

Where would you like overseas? Obviously like you say it probably wouldn't happen, but the nearest is maybe Spa, but the cars would maybe be a little slow around there. North of France has depressingly little circuits. France needs to get some more stuff!

Assen, Zandvoort or Zolder could be fun.

As long as there's no chassis packing going on on the return journey, of course... we all know where that ended up.